Mike Wickett

Wickett's World - Gary Andersen...1st reaction

I was cleaning, packing for the holidays and staying off the internet when the UW hire was made...

I was bombarded with the news...so here's my initial thoughts on the new football coach in Madison.

Who? Utah State? Wait, don't they TOTALLY suck? are they that 3-win, little brother of Urban Meyer's old school? ..Nope. USU was pretty darn good this year. USU went 11-2 with a bowl win. USU finished the regular season ranked #22 in the nation. USU hung with Wisconsin...USU ALMOST beat beat Bucky AT CAMP RANDALL. USU has been a pretty good WAC program in the 4 years Andersen was there. USU allowed just 15.4 points per game (8th best in the NCAA). USU was 15th in TOTAL DEFENSE. All of this seems like Athletic Director/Rose Bowl Coach/King Barry Alvarez may have found a hidden gem in the beehive state. Anderson was a part of the D that helped Urban Meyer's Utah team go undefeated and beat Larry Fitzgeralds Pitt team in the Sugar Bowl in 2004. Also was the Asst Coach/Def coordinator that helped Utah go undefeated in 2008 and beat Alabama in the 2009 sugar bowl (thanks @Edubs2003 for pointing that out!) . Oh, and they won the WAC and the Potato Bowl (yeah, yeah) in 2012.

Hmmmm....a defensive coordinator that took one of the WORST programs in the country and turned them into conference champs... sound familar Badgers fans?